John Riddell: Democracy in Lenin's Comintern

How did Communist parties handle issues of internal discipline and democracy in Lenin’s time? The recent intense discussion within the British Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP) and beyond has heard claims that the SWP rests on the traditions of democratic centralism inherited from the Bolsheviks.

Richard Atkinson: Death and the Bedroom Tax

Some extended thoughts about Stephanie Bottrill, the woman who committed suicide because of the bedroom tax.

Dave Renton: Who Was Blair Peach?

Today marks the 35th anniversary of the killing of Blair Peach by the police. David Renton looks back at Blair Peach’s life as a poet, trade unionist and committed antifascist

The IS Network Steering Committee (SC) has agreed that we should continue to produce regular bulletins, including outside of the run-up to our national meetings and conferences.

The two we produced before our first conference helped to shape the debate and provided a forum where members could both formulate and respond to ideas and positions on how we should go forward on a variety of political questions and policies. The positive feedback the SC received initiated this decision. It is proposed that the production of the bulletin could follow a fairly informal publishing schedule, being brought out when there are sufficient contributions.

The bulletin will be open to all members (and, in future, aligned groups). We will not be soliciting articles, but expect that this will be member/caucus led. We hope that the bulletin can become central to encouraging a culture of open debate and discussion, enabling our politics to develop as an organisation.

Inevitably, there will be some cross-over with the website, but there are crucial differences. The bulletin is specific to our membership, many of whom may want to write a short position piece and/or motions, rather than longer analytical articles. By packaging all the material in a single bulletin the range of arguments is more accessible and can be contextualised. It will be printable, and thus available in large print and dyslexia-friendly formats, and we hope to be able to send out copies for people with limited internet access.

We are now taking contributions for the next one. Please email your contributions to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.